On Tuesday, Israeli airstrikes pounded Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hodeidah, an attack that came as Yemenis in the capital Sanaa held a funeral for dozens of journalists who were killed by Israeli strikes last week.
Yemen’s Al Masirah TV reported a total of 12 strikes on Hodeidah, while sources at the port told Reuters that the attack targeted three docks that were repaired after being damaged in previous Israeli strikes. So far, there have been no reports of casualties. Before the attack, the Israeli military’s Arabic language spokesman ordered an evacuation of the port.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, who has repeatedly threatened to unleash biblical plagues on Yemen, said the purpose of the attack was to “ensure the continuation of the maritime and air blockade on the Houthi terrorist organization.” He said the Houthis, officially known as Ansar Allah, will “continue to suffer blows and pay painful prices for any attempt to attack the State of Israel.”
Ansar Allah’s military spokesman Yahya Saree said that Yemeni air defenses were activated during the attack. According to Yemen’s SABA news agency, Saree said that “the air defenses caused confusion among the enemy aircraft and forced some of their formations to leave airspace before carrying out their aggression.”
The latest Israeli attack on Yemen came as hundreds attended a funeral for 31 journalists who were killed by Israeli airstrikes that hit the capital Sanaa on September 10. The strike targeted the offices of two newspapers: 26 September, the official media outlet of Yemen’s military, and Al-Yemen, in a densely populated residential area.
The Israeli military claimed the strike that targeted the journalists hit the “Houthis Public Relations Department.” The Israeli strikes on Yemen that day, which also targeted the Jawf province, killed at least 11 women and five children.
In the face of the increasing Israeli airstrikes, the Houthis have vowed that their attacks on Israel and blockade of Israeli shipping won’t stop until there’s a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory.
The Houthis are known for their resilience and did not back down in the face of a very heavy US bombing campaign that the Trump administration conducted from March 15 to May 6, which killed more than 250 civilians. The US gave up on trying to get the Houthis to stop their attacks on Israel and blockade of Israeli shipping and agreed to a ceasefire with the group.
